“The sun is shining…” “But the ice is slippery.” Welcome back to the clubhouse for another episode of the Cult Film Club!
On this episode hosts Pax, Jaime and Shawn take on the 1994 pulp super hero flick, The Shadow. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? We know! All three hosts quit their hedonistic lifestyles as opium warlords in Asia to dig a little deeper into this flick. Directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Alec Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller, John Lone, Tim Curry and Ian McKellen and was part of a pulp era hero resurgence on film in the late 80s/early 90s, but unlike flicks such as Dick Tracy and the Phantom, The Shadow takes a lot of weird and wonderful turns into the strange which earns it a place in cult film history. Whether it was depicting Lamont Cranston as a bloody opium warlord, the lavish and sometime ridiculous set design or the over the top performances this movie is unlike any super hero flick. So put on your secret Shadow ring, gas up your supped-up taxi cab, and unholster your twin pearl handled .45 automatic pistols as we explore this awesomely insane film!
Listen now!
(Or right-click and save this file to download -> Cult Film Club, Episode #15: The Shadow)
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Re: Paxton asking for feedback on this Podcast. I download and listen CFCPCasts on a portable speaker and I appreciate the time and effort. I also learn Cult movie trivia whilst shaving and getting ready to go to work. I would suggest 60mins or less, as people are increasingly Time poor these days. Think of it as a Directors Cut or made for TV version.
Fair point, sir, and something the three of us have talked about among ourselves. Believe me I get it about being time poor. I notice that in my own podcast listening. However, we are only a monthly podcast, not weekly, so we aren’t asking people to listen every week which I think gives us some leeway for running a little longer.
Plus I don’t want to edit the show down just so we can hit some magical number. I want the conversation we have to stand as much as possible. If that happens to be 60mins, then fine. If it’s an hour and a half. Fine. Believe me, though, I agonize over that balance every time I edit the show.
Thanks for the feedback.
Pax
And thanks for listening. Believe me, I do appreciate it. I know you have a lot of listening choices and I’m very happy you picked us. 🙂
Pax
I don`t Pod much and I try to keep a low profile on the internet. I originally stumbled on to Brandedinthe80s years ago, then followed CFC. I only joined Twitter to connect with Shawn on 80s subjects and McDonalds calendars. I`m cool with time at the mo` but other listeners may be busy and there is a Deluge of stuff on the InfoNet these days. I would atleast make it a rule that the Podcast about the movie can`t be longer than the actual movie.
You know it’s funny that you bring up the idea of the podcast being no longer than the film. In reference to Branded in the 80s, I’ve sort of struggled with the idea of how long that project should go on. I mean, in a couple years I will have been running that site for a decade, as long as the 80s. :p
As for the CFC, yeah, I also agonize of editing the episodes I do. I think our conversation tends to naturally end around 80-90 minutes, which I think is a fair amount of time to discuss a flick. Not that it’s happened yet, but I think we’d probably feel weird if it went much longer than that. But like Pax says, I think keeping it natural is first and foremost, so we let the conversation dictate the length…
Plus, we aren’t just discussing the action in the movie. We talk our background with the film, about the actors, some of their background, and the film’s music. As we’ve gone 15 episodes now, I think Shawn is correct, our convos feel more natural around 80-90 mins. If I felt otherwise, I’d edit it down closer to one hour.
This is definitely a topic that is considered every time I edit the show and I do appreciate this feedback.
Pax
I am cool with the time, I just want you guys to be a success as you don`t seem to get much feedback after a Podcast but the Fave Movie T-shirts rates. Atleast we got the ball rolllin`. On another note I wonder what you guys and gal think of The Goldbergs? I have watched all 23 Episodes and I really enjoy watching it and it`s picking up momentum. Its the 80s wonder years.
I’ve watched several episodes. I like it, but I don’t just love it. I enjoy watching it every once in a while but I haven’t mustered up enough enthusiasm to regularly watch it. It doesn’t help either that my wife doesn’t want to watch it.
However, the Goonies episode was good. And I loved the episode about the Presidential Fitness Award.
I still have yet to see this :/ I need to get on the ball. I think I’ve been shutting it out since so many people have told me I need to see it.
I enjoyed the podcast. First Cult Film Club one I’ve listened to. Here are some follow-up comments. I like the various segments you have that seem to be standard for your podcasts. The most memorable thing about the music for me was Taylor Dayne’s Original Sin. That got a lot of radio play when the movie was coming out. I don’t remember any of the other songs. Elfman would have been better. I haven’t watched this movie since the theater. I did like it then, though. I’m going to have to re-watch it. Especially hearing that it holds up pretty well. Another dark comic movie of the time was The Crow. Maybe you didn’t mention it because it didn’t fit the early 20th century style. They were definitely looking for darker, and obscurer comics to bring to the screen then. Tank Girl and a few years later Barb Wire. Fun times the 90s. I’ll definitely be tuning in to a few more of these. Maybe catch up on all of them. Thanks for the entertainment.
Hey Ammon, glad you gave the show a shot and enjoyed it! Yeah, The Crow is a good call, darker like the Shadow for sure, though more on the industrial side of things. Pretty much the early 90s was either Batman Films, pulp era heroes or indie/UK comics adaptations (I’m looking at you Tank Girl and Judge Dredd.) What I’d really love to see is some of today’s filmmakers tackling these pulp heroes with the amazing visual technology that is the standard in Hollywood. Can you imagine what the Rocketeer or Doc Savage would look like?!?
I’d love to see either of those. The Rocketeer especially. I’ve read that a Flash Gordon movie is in the works. 🙂 A new Tank Girl film (with Chloe Moretz maybe?, maybe an unknown) directed by Edgar Wright would be great fun.
Barb Wire is kind of like a female Punisher, so I think an entertaining movie or TV show could be made, but the Pam Anderson movie sucked.
I thought the new Dredd film was pretty good. The claustrophobic feeling to it both serviced it well, and made me wish for something that showed off the world it was in more. I love the Cyberpunk/Blade Runner-type sci-fi worlds. Johnny Mnemonic was a fun one, too.
As for casting choices on The Shadow, Adrien Brody was my first thought, too, because of his nose, but I think Pax’s choice of Jon Hamm is perfect, and I’d probably cast Ken Watanabe for Shiwan Khan.
I’m a little all over the place, but these are fun things to discuss.
Oh NICE! You f**king nailed it with Ken Watanabe. Great call. I really like that.
I missed out on Barb Wire back in the day, both the comic and the film, but I would love to see an Edgar Wright adaptation of Tank Girl (especially after seeing Scott Pilgrim).
Yeah, the new Dredd movie was great and I’m hoping they can get the funding for a sequel. I’ve heard it models itself after The Raid: Redemption (which I admittedly still need to see.)
Good call on casting Watanabe
This is an enjoyable podcast, and I like the discussion you guys are having, until you got to the end…
Calling a Jerry Goldsmith (you didn’t even mention him by name. I know you guys aren’t big film music fans, but he’s practically a legend in the film score world) score serviceable and workman is wrong. Even Elfman probably admits he wishes his orchestrations were as complex as Goldsmith’s, and I’m generally of a fan of most of Elfman’s music, so that’s not a bash against him. The Shadow’s theme is very memorable and dark and brassy, as is Khan’s theme, and the love theme (did Batman even have a love theme?), is very melancholy and beautiful.
Plus having Elfman score The Shadow would have been redundant, and Elfman likely would have repeated similar themes from Batman, considering at the time, his scores for Darkman and Dick Tracy were already very similar to Batman.
Apologies if I coming off a little hot-tempered here, I enjoyed listening to the podcast, but when it came to the aspect of the music, I felt you guys kinda well blew it.
Well, we certainly appreciate your opinion, but for us, the score just did not stand out or “do it” for us. And that’s coming from a pretty darn big fan of the film. Believe it or not, I’m very happy that the score does work and hold up for you. At no point do any of the three of us ever sit around hoping aspects of these films we love “don’t” work for us. I’d also like to state as pleasantly as I can, and I’m only speaking for myself here, but we’re just as entitled to our opinion as to why we didn’t love the score, and we’re not “wrong” for feeling that way. Just like we wouldn’t condem you for enjoying that score. Let’s be civil and recognize that we’re all entitled to our opinions. Disagree with us, that’s great, but we aren’t wrong for not liking the score. I respect that you pointed out why you dig it, and to be honest, I’m intrigued enough to give it another listen, so there’s that. I know it might be coming off as an argument of symantics, but you’ll catch more flies with honey. Just saying.
No biggie, and thanks for replying very quickly. I’m not trying to say anyone’s opinion is wrong. Just didn’t like it being called workmanlike. It’s not exactly the most memorable score I suppose (although I do think the theme is fairly memorable myself), and it’s not really trying to be, but as a fan of film music, I appreciate the complex action sequences, and the score is pretty much omnipresent throughout the film, with over 80 minutes of music being featured (and The Shadow is only about 108 minutes long, including credits).